Video: Atheist Spirituality
April 24th, 2010
A wonderful video expressing the spiritual outlook of an atheist. Normally I don’t link to videos on Sacred River, but this one was too good not to share…
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The Sacred River Project is dedicated to promoting a naturalistic approach to spirituality that is grounded in
(a) progressive, humanistic principles,
(b) a rational understanding of the universe informed by scientific inquiry, and
(c) a reverent orientation towards the natural world. Read more...
(a) progressive, humanistic principles,
(b) a rational understanding of the universe informed by scientific inquiry, and
(c) a reverent orientation towards the natural world. Read more...
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This video is awesome. Thank you very much for posting it.
The pleasure is mine. I have been seeing more and more videos like this on YouTube, which is a good sign that nontheists are starting to accept a kind of non-supernatural spirituality.
I would just like to thank you for posting that. It, for the most part, summed up and focused my own similar beliefs to his that I have been tumbling about in my head for quite awhile. Thanks dude
PS: cool site by the way, bookmarked
Absolutely wonderful. I love this. So well said, beautiful music, scenery and the message is just beautiful. Thanks for posting this.
This brought tears to my eyes. It is such a relief to know there are others out there who think the way I do, surrounded as I am by the prevailing culture of obligatory religious faith.
In its substance, this is nothing else, than pantheism without the word “god”. As overwhelmingly beautiful as this video is, it completely ignores the predatory, parasitic and chaotic side of nature. This could provide material for a similarly overwhelming video
“In its substance, this is nothing else, than pantheism without the word “god”.”
While I think your average pantheist would agree with its sentiments, I don’t think it expresses an explicitly pantheistic view. In fact, the author defines spirituality as the “essence of human” and “the action or ability to see beauty, to feel wonder, and to be in awe.” That is not a typical pantheistic definition. Further, the author does not define the universe as being sacred, which is a key pantheistic notion. So, I think it can be successfully argued that it expresses something other than pantheism…something that is more along the lines of religion naturalism.
“As overwhelmingly beautiful as this video is, it completely ignores the predatory, parasitic and chaotic side of nature.”
This would be a valid critique if the author attempted to claim something along the lines of the universe being a peaceful, beneficent place for humans. But he doesn’t say anything along those lines. It is an ode to the relationship between being human and the world we live in. The fact that the world is filled with death, chaos, pain, and all kinds of apparently ugly things does nothing to take away from the experiences he describes.
I think you got this wrong because you are assuming a pantheistic perspective of the author, that he sees the universe as a sacred, all-beautiful place. But he doesn’t say anything like that. Therefore, he does not paint a pie-in-the-sky picture of the universe, but rather an honest description of how he experiences the world. Once you drop that needless pantheistic assumption, his message pops into focus.
Beautiful video. To the comment above: A video could of course be created to show the ‘evil’ side of nature, but that should not diminish the message of this video, nor does it bolster the case of theism. The predatory/parasitic/chaotic aspects of nature(the creation) are in sharp contrast with the strict and structured world of religion and the adherence to texts written long ago in a far away land. The chaos of our world forms a remarkable mosaic in a shifting balance. What we have is a choice in how we perceive our world. As Bill Hicks once said, “We have a choice between fear and love.” This video chooses love.
I think that this is just half of the human experience. Yes, there is the beautiful, and there is also the ugly. The spiritual experience of humans includes all emotional states including dispair and depression. I know that most people will not accept such a broadened definition of spirituality, but then we are Humanists and have a different insight. Right?
Jack, I think you might be missing the point of the video. It isn’t to ignore the pain and chaos in nature, it’s to point out that it’s possible to have a rich, fulfilling spiritual life grounded in a fully naturalistic view of the world. If one wants to include depression and despair in their vision of spirituality, that’s fine, but I don’t think a spiritual perspective without them is somehow incomplete.
Ash,
Of course, I think the idea of secular spirituality is fine. However, in the same way that art can deal with the “ugly” and not just with the “beautiful”, I think that there is some intellectual value in seeing secular spirituality as encluding the whole range of human emotion. I am not intending to argue with you, rather just to express my current insight. This makes my view objective, and it might elicit useful comments and greater understanding. Thanks for your reply. jfs
Hi. Thankyou for your inspiring, beautiful, video. I am a theist (progressive Christian) and I thank the God you don’t believe in for people just like you. We are fellow hughmans working it all out together as we go. Warmest best wishes to you.